Chapter 39: Ancient Ruins

  Nitaan slightly adjusted his posture. Kiita twitched both ears, heightening his awareness. The cheerful atmosphere in the room instantly transformed into one of tense silence.

  "It's about the Fang Trading Group," Nitaan said softly.

  Injan showed no expression, but Elder Grai frowned slightly upon hearing the name Fang Trading Group.

  The Fang Trading Group is one of the continent's largest trading groups, with numerous branches in every major city. While it may not be considered a leading trading group with a high market share like the Qianbao Trading Group and Itsuka Trading Group, its influence and power are still comparable to the Great Families of various nations.

  To make a direct comparison, the Fang Trading Group is even stronger than the Uthumpohn family, a prominent noble family. However, their strength stems from their wide network across the Grand Continent. Within the territory of the Firegan Kingdom, the Uthumpohn family is undoubtedly stronger.

  Both sides have their strong points. Therefore, their powers are roughly equal.

  As for the leading trading groups, they are on another level. From what has been revealed, Qianbao Trading Group and Itsuka Trading Group possess overall power far surpassing the Great Families of the Firegan Kingdom or the Laplazter family of the Malakai Empire.

  This is just an analysis based on the things that both sides are willing to disclose. No one knows the exact total power. Personally, Nitaan believes that the two trading groups might have military power equal to the entire Firegan Kingdom or major powers.

  "I 'accidentally' met the representative of the Fang Trading Group, Firegan Kingdom branch," Nitaan said.

  "A representative from Fang Trading Group? Then it must be Ms. Fang Ming." Injan raised an eyebrow.

  "Yes. I met Ms. Fang Ming on the way here to Ratana City. She greeted me first."

  "She was in the line behind me when we boarded the Eight winged giant bird. The situation and events seemed perfectly normal," Nitaan explained briefly.

  "I wouldn't dare say she followed me all the way here from Silalai town, but I think she'd been investigating me to some extent. She took the opportunity to approach me 'by chance' when she was in Silalai town on business."

  "That's highly probable. Major powers always keep an eye on potential individuals throughout the region," Injan analyzed.

  "So, how exactly did she approach you? Normally, it would just be about getting to know each other, building good relationships, and establishing connections."

  "It was normal, in a way. But she also bought me and Kiita Gold treasure tickets." Injan frowned upon hearing this.

  "It’s not too much considering the status of the Fang Trading group. In my opinion, there's nothing unusual." Injan continued.

  "Did she ask you to do anything?"

  "She wanted me to join her group on an exploration mission. The reason is similar to yours, she needs my detection abilities."

  Injan lowered his head in thought. The reason is reasonable and logical, Nitaan’s detection ability is a real deal. He'd witnessed them firsthand. It wasn't surprising that someone would be interested after investigating him.

  "Any more details? If it's a normal exploration mission, Fang Trading Group should have no trouble finding another scout. There's no reason to hire noname Scout," Injan asked.

  "I don't know many details," Nitaan recalled their conversation. "I only know it's about Ancient Ruins."

  "An Ancient Ruins?" Injan pondered, his brows furrowed. After a moment, Injan lightly flicked his right hand as a signal.

  Elder Grai waved his hand. Faint, crimson characters appeared on his forehead. A domain of fire suddenly spread around the room, completely enveloping the walls, floor, and ceiling. Although the fire seemed intense, it didn't burn anything it touched, merely spreading out like a new wallpaper.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "P’ Nitaan, this is quite confidential. Please don't disclose this to anyone," Injan said.

  "Do you know the Horrid Battalion?" Injan asked.

  "You mean the one that joined in with Devil beast side in the Great Extermination War, right?" Nitaan thought for a moment before answering.

  "That's correct. This battalion was one of the armies under Devil beast side back then. The leader of this battalion is a Pathseeker known as the 'Hybrid Noble'" Injan said softly.

  Nitaan nodded slightly. The history of the Great Extermination War was no secret. It was often briefly covered in basic education. Even more detailed information was easily obtained from books.

  "In that war, the Horrid Battalion was one of the battalions that was used as pawns, discarded to gauge the strength of the human side."

  "Although the devil beast side seemed to lack intelligence, their leader was no less capable than us humans," Injan explained.

  "Their leader wanted to gauge the approximate strength of the forces in the northern region of the continent, so she manipulated Hybrid Noble into leading his army north, destroying numerous villages and innocent civilians along the way to provoke our side."

  "Of course, our side wouldn't stand idly by. Three Pathseekers were urgently sent to deal with the Horrid Battalion."

  "Horrid battalion instantly overwhelmed by our Pathseekers, resulting in the utmost destruction of the whole battalion."

  “The Hybrid Noble realized he had been manipulated when reinforcements that should have been rushing to support him diverted their whole army to attack the

  eastern area. They have become a decoy, a pawn to lure the human Pathseekers away.”

  “His unwilling sacrifice gave the Devil beast side a powerful strategic terrain and advantage in the east.”

  Injan pointed at the map while describing the situation in the past.

  “The Hybrid Noble, enraged by both sides, split his body and managed to escape at death’s door, angrily shouting the vow that he would curse all Devil beasts, humans, and all their allies.”

  “He survived? But history says he died in battle, and we even sent three Pathseekers,” Nitaan asked.

  “Not everything that is published is necessarily true. And don’t underestimate Pathseekers. They are those who are able to completely fuse and engrave their Word of Power into themselves.” Injan shook his head.

  “Not only that, although almost the entire battalion was destroyed, there are some who managed to escape with the Hybrid Noble.”

  "They settle down in a certain area and are able to build an underground fortress with the size of a town."

  "The Hybrid Noble took refuge there to recover. But the wound inflicted by one of the Pathseekers was too fatal to recover from. After some time passed, Hybrid Noble died within its own fortress."

  "All the treasures of the Pathseekers who lead the entire Horrid Battalion are buried there, along with numerous mutated Devil beasts from the battalion. Even after Hybrid Noble death, they are still able to reproduce through inbreeding, creating never-before-seen creatures. All of this is crammed into that enclosed space. I believed that place is the ancient ruin Fang Ming mentioned," Injan said with a serious expression.

  Tomb of Hybrid Noble

  "According to our family's intelligence, the discoverer was likely an adventurer who accidentally wandered in. That adventurer didn't survive, but his Word of Powers revealed the location before his death. Upon investigation, we discovered it to be that tomb of a Hybrid Noble."

  A tomb of the Patheekers, valuable treasure, ancient artifacts… Nitaan start dreaming.

  Nitaan suddenly snapped back to reality. Greed is the root of misfortune. If he had the opportunity, he wouldn’t mind seizing it. But when things go beyond his reach, he wouldn't stubbornly go for it and throw his life away.

  "How come Fang Ming still has leisure time to invite me? That is a tomb of Pathseeker. Isn’t it supposed to be wiped clean by powerful Fate Scripters long before?" Nitaan wondered.

  Inside the tomb are valuable treasures and artifacts of Pathseeker!

  "Because for a truly powerful Fate Scripter, a treasure of a single Pathseeker is worthless," Injan laughed.

  Nitaan was stunned to hear this.

  Worthless? Pathseekers are the exceptionally powerful Fifth word Engraver, the peak-stage Enlightened. Only one of them is worth more than an entire army. There's no doubt they possess immense wealth.

  How can that be called worthless?

  "There are many things you still don't know, P’ Nitaan. I also don't know all the details myself. Even Elder Grai probably knows only slightly more than me." Injan turned to look. Elder Grai simply nodded slightly.

  "Let's just say, Pathseekers are just the beginning."

  The beginning… Nitaan pondered.

  There are only a handful of Pathseekers in each era across this incredibly vast Grand Continent. If it’s only a beginning, how long is their lifespan?

  "But what about other Pathseekers? Or late-stage Enlightned ?" Nitaan asked.

  "Because there are restrictions. No matter the race—Devil beasts, humans, or human allies—if they are First word Engraver or higher, once they enter, their spiritual power and Word of Power will be suppressed to the level of a Learner."

  “No one knows how Hybrid Noble achieved that even after his death. Maybe it’s his Word of Power, one of the treasures or artifacts, or his malice had become curses.”

  'I curse all devil beasts, humans, and all allied races!' Nitaan trembled when he imagined the resentment of Hybrid Noble who was deceived that time.

  A resentment so strong that even a hundred years later, the curse can affect even Enlightened.

  "Other races like Half-beast races or Abyss races can enter normally. but of course we won't just give it to them," Injan continued.

  "Only First word Engraver and below can enter. The tomb won't consider them a threat and suppress their spiritual energy.”

  “Or maybe the curse only affects the strong ones; we aren’t really sure.” Injan shrugged.

  "I think this is the main reason Fang Ming approached you, P’ Nitaan. "Your detection abilities are on par with or even surpass those of many First word Engraver Scouts," Injan looked at Nitaan.

  "If I were to advise you, you should refuse.” Injan said seriously.

  “If you've already agreed, I can send a representative to negotiate on your behalf."

  "Going in there is like asking for death. There are countless Engraver Devil beast, Enlightened Devil beast is also highly probable.”

  "Those Devil beast are born from the creature in Horrid battalion through inbreeding. No one knows what kind of weird abilities they would have."

  “I agreed that inside the tomb might hold very valuable treasures and countless opportunities, but if you are too weak to seize it. You will only end up wasting your life.” Injan said seriously.